Bright blue glow over New York City after reported transformer explosion; power outage at LaGuardia Airport. https://t.co/Cnowx4oKPs pic.twitter.com/87xJNGQeyQ
— ABC11 EyewitnessNews (@ABC11_WTVD) December 28, 2018
- The sky in New York City glowed an eerie bright blue on Thursday night, after an apparent transformer explosion at a electrical facility in Queens, New York.
- The New York Police Department's 114th precinct said in a tweet that they are "Investigating a transformer explosion at Astoria East & North Queens Con Ed power plant."
- Twitter users captured the blue glow from the explosion.
The sky in New York City glowed an eerie blue on Thursday night, after an apparent transformer explosion at a electricity facility in Queens.
The New York Police Department's 114th precinct said in a tweet that they are "Investigating a transformer explosion at Astoria East & North Queens Con Ed power plant."
ADVISORY: The lights you have seen throughout the city appear to have been from a transformer explosion at a Con Ed facility in Queens. The fire is under control, will update as more info becomes available. Follow @fdny, @NYPD114pct and @conedison. pic.twitter.com/fdzQKs1wVV
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) December 28, 2018
Nobody was injured, according to a tweet from Mayor Bill De Blasio, who also said that Con Edison was "evaluating outages now." There are delays on the 7 train, though the MTA has power.
Meanwhile, travellers tweeted about a power outage at LaGuardia Airport. Electricity at the airport had been mostly restored by late night, Port Authority representative Scott Ladd told INSIDER in an email Thursday night. Ladd said flight schedules at LaGuardia may be affected by the outage.
"Arriving flights are able to land, but some departures are being held up. Travellers are urged to check with their carriers for updated information on flight status," he said.
Power company Con Edison acknowledged the incident on its Twitter account, confirming there was "a brief electrical fire at our substation in Astoria which involved some electrical transformers and caused a transmission dip in the area."
"We're currently investigating the cause of the incident," the agency said.
Minutes later, the New York Police Department Chief Terence Monahan said the incident was under control, and said no injuries were reported.
Twitter users captured the blue glow in eerie photos and videos:
#nyc NYPD says the bright blue glow lighting up the New York City area is caused by a transformer explosion at a Con Ed energy company power plant in Queens. #UFO pic.twitter.com/JHk9M2oCWh
— MoneyEmpire (@MONEYEMPIRE) December 28, 2018
New York transformer explosion lights up skyline in eerie blue glow https://t.co/MIWwQZpa6r pic.twitter.com/Phal9r0bCx
— NJ.com (@njdotcom) December 28, 2018
NYPD says the bright blue glow lighting up New York was caused by a transformer explosion in Queens... in reality, it’s Goku charging up his Kamehameha Wave. pic.twitter.com/FtFM38wmmM
— sad boi hours til 2019 (@StezzyUrkel) December 28, 2018
New York Sky Turns Bright Blue After Fire at Con Ed Substation pic.twitter.com/yW5T8yx7dU
— Nicholas Wowk (@NickWowk) December 28, 2018
Blue skies in New York, what’s going on? ?? pic.twitter.com/yBPKeYeh44
— Andres Rios (@_andresrios11) December 28, 2018
But at least one video suggested the origin of the light was, indeed, terrestrial.
A transformer explosion at a Con Ed plant in Queens lit up the night sky over New York City, turning the skyline bright blue for a moment and frightening residents in the process. https://t.co/hHMO4TQqsH pic.twitter.com/3D1d2pDdUW
— ABC News (@ABC) December 28, 2018
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